Grímsvötn

Grímsvötn (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈkrimsˌvœhtn̥] ^ⓘ; vötn = "waters", singular: vatn) is an active volcano with a (partially subglacial) fissure system located in Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland. The central volcano is completely subglacial and located under the northwestern side of the Vatnajökull ice cap. The subglacial caldera is at 64°25′N 17°20′W / 64.417°N 17.333°W / 64.417; -17.333, at an elevation of 1,725 m (5,659 ft). Beneath the caldera is the magma chamber of the Grímsvötn volcano.

Grímsvötn is a basaltic volcano which has the highest eruption frequency of all the volcanoes in Iceland. It has a southwest-northeast-trending fissure system. The massive climate-impacting Laki fissure eruption of 1783–1784 took place in a part of the same Grímsvötn-Laki volcanic system. Grímsvötn was erupting at the same time as Laki during 1783, but continued to erupt until 1785. Because most of the volcanic system lies underneath Vatnajökull, most of its eruptions have been subglacial and the interaction of magma and meltwater from the ice causes phreatomagmatic explosive activity. Within the Grímsvötn-Laki volcanic system is a second central volcano called Thordarhyrna (Þórðarhyrna).